EPL Talk Podcast Review, Open Thread: Have Your Say

It’s a rare Sunday with four matches being played in the Premier League. Manchester United dusted off QPR with ease, and now there’s Aston Villa against Liverpool, followed by Spurs against Sunderland and then, last but not least, Manchester City against Arsenal.

Whether it’s today’s games or yesterday’s, we’d like to get your suggested topics and questions for this evening’s episode of the EPL Talk Podcast. The best questions and comments will be read out on-air.

About The Author

Publisher of World Soccer Talk, Christopher Harris founded the site in 2005. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Guardian and several other publications. Plus he has made appearances on NPR, BBC World, CBC, BBC Five Live, talkSPORT and beIN SPORT.
Harris, who was born and raised in Wales, has lived in Florida since 1984, and supported Swansea City since 1979. Last but not least, he got engaged during half-time of a MLS game.

16 Comments

justinDecember 18, 2011

As a frustrated chelsea fan, what are your thoughts on AVB’s incredibly strange substitutions? Supposedly we hear about calls for more stylish, attacking play, and yet after finally taking the lead yesterday, we see a very slow Mikel subbed on and the best player on the field yesterday (Sturridge) subbed as well. I just cant wrap my ahead around the way that match went yesterday. Chelsea should never be dropping points to a side like Wigan.

Thoroughly enjoy the podcast twice a week guys. Thanks! Just wanted to point out that as a Spurs fan it bothers me that Kartik always says Luka MOW-dric. It’s pronounced “Mah-dric.”

Also, the point last week about Jermain Defoe going to Sunderland is comical. Tottenham have only Pavlyuchenko and Defoe as first team strikers. Adebayor is on loan. And Pav is absolutely buried on the bench. Literally there is no scenario where Harry would let Defoe leave unless he could bring in TWO strikers permanently that were as good or better than Defoe and cheap.

I hope you guys address that because any claim that JD is leaving Spurs in January is asinine!

On Chelsea: Why would AVB go defensive against Wigan? A team that is battling relegation. Yesterday he inexplicably took out his two best and most dangerous players from the lineup(sturridge and mata) and went extremely defensive. ALso why does AVB keep going back on his decision to bench Lampard? Chelsea has had all their best games with Lampard out the lineup(coincidently chelsea scored while lampard was on the sidelines with an injury). Torres also had his best game with Lampard out of the lineup. I know Lampard is a chelsea legend but something gotta give right?
During pre-season, AVB wanted Lampard in a withdrawn role but Lampard barked saying that he likes to join the attack. AVB eventually gave in. SAF would have never stand for this. If he doesn’t somehow get rid of the players opposing his authority, i dont see him surviving past this year.

What is Aston Villa doing under McLeish? They are showing a lot of the short passing interlink play that was emphasized under Houllier but they aren’t sending the numbers forward in the same quantity. McLeish is a manager who is known for maximum impact in year one but it appears as if he isn’t actually imprinting his style/a style on the team and instead Villa has the worst of both their past style and presumably how Alex would have them play.

Can we start a collection to buy Everton a striker? During the match today they announced that Cahill hadn’t scored in 28 EPL matches. So lets get this straight.. Everton; with one of the best goaltenders in the world; one of the best back four in the EPL, and an excellent central defensive midfielder in Neville have a 4-4-1-1 attack with Louis Saha( 1 goal in 11 games) and Cahill(haven’t scored since the beginning of last season) up top? So basically Everton is scoring 0-1 goals and hoping for a clean sheet. Everton should let Neville and the back four take care of the defense and invest in as many defense optional attacking players as humanly possible.

Regarding Chelsea; AVB is transitioning a roster that is built for a classic Italian style into a more open Spanish style attack. I don’t know whether that’s a wise idea; its an expensive roster with solid veteran players. Can anyone argue that this Chelsea side is less talented or any older than the side that Mourinho won a treble with at Inter? Open play exposes Chelsea’s lack of speed. I don’t see how Luis fits into this team unless Chelsea is willing to put 3 up front and 3 at back with Luis as Libero. That exposes Terry in the middle; takes away the benefit of Cole and exposes the lack of pace on the opposite wing. If I were running Chelsea I’d go 4-3-3 with Lampard playing D/M with Mata and Kalou filling out the middle with Sturridge, Torres, and Drogpa up front. I wouldn’t worry about chemistry and link up.. I’d simply assault the seams with the three strikers pinning the opposition back with attacking runs.

I’ll be very curious to see how you guys break down Arsenal’s complete inability to break down Man City’s defense (without condemning them in the process, I hope) and the reason WHY you all think Arsenal had so much trouble and looked more jittery and panicked than they usually are. Clearly City was playing at home and just came off their first loss of the season. They came out harder and more prepared tactically than they have in awhile.

Again, hope to hear you guys dissect BOTH City and Arsenal’s positives/negatives in this weekend’s match.